ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-290
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| Route reference: 2009-793 | |
| Ottawa, 19 May 2010 | |
| Diffusion Laval inc. Laval, Quebec | |
| Application 2008-1686-1, received 17 December 2009 | |
CFAV Laval – Licence renewal and amendment | |
| The Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CFAV Laval for a short-term period of four years in light of the licensee's non-compliance with the requirement to file annual returns and with its condition of licence relating to Canadian talent development contributions. This short-term renewal will allow the Commission to review at an earlier date the licensee's compliance with its regulatory obligations and with its conditions of licence. | |
| The Commission approves the request for an amendment to CFAV's licence to increase from 30% to 35% the level of Canadian content broadcast in each broadcast week and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. | |
| The terms and conditions of licence are set out in the appendix to this decision. | |
Introduction | |
| 1. | The Commission received an application from Diffusion Laval inc. (Diffusion Laval) to renew the broadcasting licence for the French-language AM commercial radio programming undertaking CFAV Laval, which expires 31 May 2010.1 The applicant also requested an amendment to the station's licence to delete the condition of licence requiring it to devote no less than 30% of its musical selections from content category 2 to Canadian selections broadcast in their entirety each broadcast week and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday where at least 90% of the musical selections from content category 2 broadcast are selections released before 1 January 1981. This condition represents an exception to the 35% level of Canadian selections established in sections 2.2(8) and 2.2(9) of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations). The licensee indicated that it no longer wished to continue with its exception to these sections and proposed to devote at least 35% of its category 2 musical selections to Canadian selections in each broadcast week and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. |
| 2. | In support of the proposed amendment, Diffusion Laval explained that it now broadcasts recent musical selections in addition to content released prior to 1981, that over 35% of the musical selections it broadcasts in each broadcast week are Canadian selections and that its exception to the Regulations is no longer required. |
| 3. | The Commission received a comment from the Association québécoise du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo, to which Diffusion Laval did not reply. The comment is available on the Commission's website at www.crtc.gc.ca under "Public Proceedings." |
Commission's analysis and determinations | |
| 4. | After examining the application in light of applicable policies and regulations, the Commission considers that that the issues to be addressed are the licensee's non-compliance with the Regulations and its conditions of licence and whether to grant the proposed licence amendment. |
| Non-compliance with the Regulations and conditions of licence | |
| 5. | In Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2009-793, the Commission noted that the licensee may have failed to comply with section 9(2) of the Regulations relating to the filing of annual reports before 30 November of each year for the 2004 and 2005 broadcast years. The Commission further noted that the licensee may have failed to comply with its condition of licence relating to Canadian talent development (CTD) contributions. The licensee failed to make the payments by the deadline of 31 August, the date on which the broadcast year ends, and completed its payments for the 2004, 2005 and 2006 broadcast years only in 2009. |
| 6. | In a letter dated 23 June 2009, the licensee stated that it had to delay payment of its CTD contributions because of a lack of cash flow and that it had been filing its annual reports by the deadline since control of Diffusion Laval inc. changed. |
| 7. | The Commission notes that this is the first time that the licensee has been found in non-compliance with the Regulations and CFAV's conditions of licence. As per Circular No. 444 , in such cases, the Commission normally grants a short-term renewal of four years. This shorter term will enable the Commission to ensure that the situation is rectified within a reasonable period of time. |
| Proposed licence amendment | |
| 8. | The Commission's general practice is to deny licence amendments requested by licensees that are in non-compliance with the Regulations or their conditions of licence. However, the Commission notes that in the present case the purpose of the licence amendment request is to remove the exception to the Regulations granted to the licensee in order to increase the percentage of Canadian content that it is required to broadcast. The Commission also notes that in its application the licensee stated that it was now able to comply with the regulatory requirement to devote no less than 35% of the selections it broadcasts to Canadian selections because the station's music format has changed to include more recent selections. The Commission therefore considers that the condition of licence in question is no longer relevant and that it is appropriate to delete it. |
Conclusion | |
| 9. | In light of the foregoing, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the French-language AM commercial radio programming undertaking CFAV Laval for four years, from 1 June 2010 to 31 August 2013.2 The Commission also approves the request to amend the station's licence to delete the condition of licence requiring the licensee, as an exception to the percentage of Canadian musical selections set out in sections 2.2(8) and 2.2(9) of the Regulations, to devote 30% or more of its musical selections from content category 2 to Canadian selections broadcast in their entirety in each broadcast week and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday where at least 90% of musical selections from content category 2 broadcast are selections released before 1 January 1981. The terms and conditions of licence are set out in the appendix to this decision. |
| Secretary General | |
| Related documents | |
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| This decision is to be appended to the licence. It is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined in PDF format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca. |
Appendix to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-290 | |
Terms, condition of licence and encouragement for the French-language AM commercial radio programming undertaking CFAV Laval | |
Terms | |
| The licence will be in effect from 1 June 2010 to 31 August 2013. | |
Condition of licence | |
| 1. The licence will be subject to the conditions set out in Conditions of licence for commercial AM and FM radio stations, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-62, 11 February 2009. | |
Encouragement | |
| In accordance with Implementation of an employment equity policy, Public Notice CRTC 1992-59, 1 September 1992, the Commission encourages the licensee to consider employment equity issues in its hiring practices and in all other aspects of its management of human resources. | |
Footnote1 The Commission administratively renewed the licence for CFAV from 1 September to 31 December 2009 in Broadcasting Decision 2009-506 and from 1 January to 31 May 2010 in Broadcasting Decision 2009-785. 2 The four-year licence term takes into account the administrative renewals from 1 September to 31 December 2009 and 1 January to 31 May 2010 granted in Broadcasting Decisions 2009-506 and 2009-785. |
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